Coworkers Who Buy Me Coffee
by essenceofolicities
Summary: Felicity works for Oliver at Queen Consolidated. Their relationship is undefined but it's obvious to those around them. Then a twist of fate occurs at Oliver's wedding and things start to get awkward. Taking a bit of inspiration from a few of my fave shows. AU. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_Present day._

Felicity was tapping away at her keyboard. A Master's from MIT. References from the best technology leaders in the states. And here she was, a glorified secretary, tasked almost every morning to get billionaire heartthrob Mr. Oliver Queen his coffee. She was so deep into the agenda she was creating for him that she didn't notice the knock on her door.

The blonde pushed her glasses up her nose and her eyes grazed across the makeshift calendar she had created until…

 _"_ _Felicity?_ " Apparently he had been saying her name a few times already.

"WHA–!" Felicity jumped and stared up at her boss. Handsome as ever. Almost ridiculous, the way his perfect hair topped his perfectly handsome face and the look on it made her want to melt, not to mention his–

 _Not now, Smoak._

She pursed her lips and didn't say anything. There was very little to say right now. Should she be flattered that he made himself look like a fool in front of everyone he knew, including his family, their mutual friends, dozens of celebrity magazines, twice the amount of tabloids, not to mention those Twitter livebloggers and internet fangirls who she wanted to tell to go back to school because they had so much more ahead of them than to troll a famous guy on the internet. Ha.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair, but Oliver Queen's face didn't leave her own. He was giving her that look that got herself into this mess in the first place. With an internal groan, she noticed the cup in his hand, both a happy sign and sign that meant she would be forced to talk to him, which was completely unfair.

Ever since she had taken this job, they had taken to each other right away, even though Felicity wasn't all too fond of the last-minute errands, walking into his office when _she_ was around; the way _she_ treated her as if she was invisible, only to make Oliver look extremely uncomfortable as if he was going to faint. Those times they argued over details of a party or a meeting and how he didn't know how to use a mouse-pointer without blinding the Queen Consolidated Board of Directors. None of that was in the job description.

Then there were also the good times. The late night Big Belly Burger runs, the laughing at how ridiculous the Queen Consolidated Board of Directors looked with their fancy suits and dull sense of humor. There were the times they had bumped into each other randomly in the hallway and exchanged glances. Then maybe that weekend they crossed paths again, Oliver grabbing a six-pack of beer, while unfortunately Felicity happened to be on a girl thing run, which made her want to run in the other direction. Because normal people were caught buying tampons in front of their boss. Nicely done, Smoak.

"We should talk."

"Why?" Felicity asked him. She was still standing and she placed both her palms on her desk. The nice thing about this IT job-slash-secretary was that Oliver had been nice enough to get her enough space for what equipment she needed.

"Well, there is–"

"Ollie, are you busy?" Both heads turned towards the door to find Oliver's sister, Thea at the door. "Oh, sorry… am I interrupting?"

Felicity shook her head. "He's all yours," she said, going back to her computer. They'd finish this conversation later.


	2. Chapter 2

_Two months ago._

Felicity was running all over the place. She had agreed to not do this because they both agreed they needed the space. But here she was, packing her bag and hopping on a plane to Hawaii because John Diggle, Oliver's bodyguard and mentor had informed her that the big lug had misplaced his wedding vows.

Because of course he did.

It was certainly like Oliver to misplace things like that. Important things. Not to mention things that Felicity reminded him ten times over and then some _not_ to forget. But then again, she wasn't surprised. She was helping out her friend.

That was it. It wasn't because she was still in love with Oliver Queen. If this was a movie, she'd probably be that girl who was going to spill coffee on herself and have a crying baby behind her on a long-ass flight.

And lo, and behold… it was exactly what had happened.

Her Starbucks run at the airport brought her face to face with a woman heading the other way, causing her to jump and flinch and drop her coffee all over herself. Luckily, a being woman who was always prepared, she changed into an extra shirt. Unfortunately, she realized too late _where_ she had technically stolen the shirt from. It was Oliver's.

What a way to be reminded of things that she didn't need to be reminded of–says the girl headed to the wedding of the man she was still in love with.

After nearly 10 hours, she landed in Oahu, ready to take in the sunshine as opposed to the cloudy skies of her own Star City. She gulped because she knew that she would have to first find Diggle, before Thea saw her and told Oliver, or worst case scenario, before Laurel realized they were in the same state again and had her escorted off the island by a S.W.A.T. team or something ridiculous like that. Knowing the woman, she would do anything to get rid of Felicity. Oh, and it had almost worked.

The time she misdirected Felicity's ride to a benefit dinner.

And the time she had 'accidentally' told security not to let Felicity into an important conference that _Felicity_ would be presenting.

Not to mention the times she had switched out Felicity's lunch orders at their meetings for something else. Granted, it was still good, but Felicity wouldn't choose a caterer who had a reputation for mistakes.

Then last, but certainly not least, when Felicity found out that Laurel told Oliver to not invite her to the wedding. Knowing their history, Felicity wasn't too concerned at first, and maybe thought it was for the better. But as she found herself in the awkward position of helping her boss out, the more she felt like it was a good idea. Still, she wasn't the type of girl to be told how to feel.

No, she could decide how she felt about Oliver.

She still loved him. A lot.

And that was that.

After grabbing her bags, she headed to the hotel, and got settled before making her way back down after freshening up and changing her outfit to something more island-y, and it was where she found Diggle and Thea at the bar.

"Felicity!"

"Smoak?"

The brunette ran up to her and hugged her. Felicity smiled and hugged her back, before excitedly giving Diggle a fist bump like he had taught her, earning a chuckle from the tall, tough man.

"I have the–"

Thea interrupted Felicity's sentence. "Laurel is getting even harder to deal with. And Oliver looks like he's about to lose his hair. He's been asking about you."

Felicity held up the copy of Oliver's vows between her pointer finger and her middle finger with a small smile.

"Oh…"

John Diggle smirked at Felicity, causing the blonde to shy away slightly. But Diggle was like the uncle who gave everyone a hard time and she knew it was her turn this time. Well, most of the time it was her. And she didn't mind. Diggle knew very well that Felicity was capable of permanently changing his ringtone to What Does the Fox Say? so he knew better than to tease her too much.

Felicity stayed quiet, watching the two of them. She moved into the spot between them at the bar and ordered herself something strong. If she was going to stay, she needed the confidence booster.

"You should talk to him," Diggle spoke up first.

"He's going to be happy to see you."

"There's also so much to do."

"We can go to the beach later!"

"I can let him know you're here."

Felicity just stared at her drink and glanced to both sides of her with slow, kind shake of her head. "I can go talk to him… but just let me take care of it, okay?" she said softly.

She pecked Diggle's cheek and squeezed Thea's hand after finishing off her drink and leaving a tip for the bartender before leaving the hotel to look for Oliver.

Maybe ten, fifteen minutes later, she arrived at the venue for the ceremony and found Oliver looking around. _Where was Laurel?_

She entered quietly as he started saying something… it sounded like… his vows?

Was it bad luck too, to have read what Oliver was going to say to Laurel in front of everyone, just like it was bad luck to see the bride the night before the wedding day?

Oliver turned around. "Felicity?" he asked, in that sweet, gentle voice he only used around her. She never heard him talking to Laurel like that.

"Hi, Oliver," Felicity held her head up with a smile. "I um… I brought this for you," she said, realizing she had been fiddling with it and the corners were bent.

Oliver stepped closer to her and took the folded piece of paper when Felicity handed it to him. "Thank you,"

"You're welcome."

"You're here."

"So I am," Felicity said a little more confidently.

"A-are you staying?" he asked, that glimmer of hope and happiness was there in his eyes. Felicity missed seeing that when he was laughing or just at ease. Mostly when he had kissed her and she let out a happy cry.

 _No more reminiscing._

Felicity just nodded. "I'll see you at the wedding. Your wedding. Tomorrow. To Laurel. Laurel. I'm going to go." She closed her eyes and awkwardly pointed towards the door, but it was actually a table sitting around, so she moved her hand about three inches to the left. "I'm gonna go and get some sleep? I'll see you tomorrow. Oliver. At your wedding." She realized she was talking too much again, then turned on her heel and finally left.

 _Shit._

* * *

Hawaiian mornings were the best. They were so slow paced and when a wedding was happening and everyone was running around trying to keep the bride happy, well, that was an interesting combination.

Felicity woke up to Thea's text message of herself with an unimpressed expression as Laurel posed in the background in front of the mirror. Thea's boyfriend Roy was also going to be there and Felicity actually liked Roy. He was something of a 'bad boy' but he had a good heart. One more person Felicity could hide behind when the wrath of bridezilla was out to get her.

Technically, she didn't RSVP so she couldn't really blame her.

With a soft laugh, Felicity got dressed and headed down to get some coffee before she actually got ready. There were approximately four and a half more hours before she had to be back at the venue.

It was a small hall (much to Laurel's distaste) but the only one that was available for that day. Oliver, on the other hand, had suggested they keep it small and simple since there were already going to be huge stories about them. (When weren't there?)

So off she was, to the wedding. Some of their coworkers had made it, but as much as Felicity did her best to stay invisible and not obviously in the room, word had spread just as fast. She found a seat next to one of the girls from the finance department and sat up stiffly. What else was she supposed to do?

Thea could be seen rolling her eyes because once again, _something_ was going wrong. The ceremony couldn't have ended any sooner

Ah, the vows. Felicity's mind came back to comprehension and she immediately looked up when she heard Oliver's voice.

"I, Oliver–"

"I, Oliver–"

"Take thee, Laurel–"

 _"Take thee, Felicity–"_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _"_ _I, Oliver..."_

 _"_ _I, Oliver..."_

 _"_ _Take thee, Laurel..."_

 _"_ _Take thee, Felicity..."_

At that moment Felicity wished she believed in fairy tales and wanted to throw herself on the floor screaming only to have her fairy godmother pick her up again and give her a whole bottle of wine. She closed her eyes, but she could feel the stares of everyone around the room on her, along with the steam coming out of Laurel's head.

Then there was the big doofus himself who was fumbling over his words. _Dammit, Oliver. I can't save you from this. Why'd you have to choose today of all days to screw up?_

Still feverishly aware of the unwanted attention, Felicity sunk further into her chair, just waiting for the whole affair to be over. Oh god, why did it have to be today? Once the ceremony was over, she could leave, sneak past the press and away from Oliver Queen. Oliver Queen who she was once in love with. Oliver Queen who she promised herself she wouldn't fall for. Oliver Queen who convinced her that she was something more than just an IT girl but an asset to a billion dollar company because without her quick thinking, they'd be shutting down. And he had reminded her of this many, many times.

Once Felicity opened her eyes, she realized she was talking to herself in her head and she needed to sit up again and just get through whatever could be salvaged out of the day. She could just see the headlines now:

OLIVER QUEEN SAYS THE WRONG WOMAN'S NAME AT HIS WEDDING: WHO IS FELICITY SMOAK?

And then Felicity groaned again. What would her mother say when she realized what Oliver had done? Donna, for one, had swooned over the handsome CEO the moment she met him, much to her daughter's embarrassment. And of course hunky Oliver took it in. He had given Felicity a look of amusement and a kind smile, but something in his eyes let her know that he was going to be teasing her about it for a while.

And right she was about that; he had mentioned Donna one time when they were preparing a slide show presentation, which nearly made Felicity spill her coffee over the computer, earning Oliver a glare which made him shut up for the next two hours, only to just gain her heart back by walking into her office with a bag of Big Belly Burger and a milkshake. Dammit, Oliver, why did he have to be so... what was the word again?

 _Infuriating_.

Felicity stood up, almost reluctantly as the ceremony ended, doing her best to keep her head down, even if she knew that wasn't going to do anything. The sooner she could get out of here, the better.

* * *

Felicity sat, nursing her head with a glass of wine. She was at the bar, Laurel had disappeared off somewhere, Barry was keeping Oliver on his feet, Moira Queen was yelling demands (like mother-in-law, like daughter-in-law? and that was the kind of thing Felicity learned to keep to herself.), while Thea was trying to keep everything settled.

 _Oh Oliver... the one thing I can't fix for you..._

She had always been Oliver's Miss Fix It, whether it was something during a presentation, or he got locked out of his computer... there was the time he needed a tie for a meeting or the time he needed a _date_ for an auction... She had always been there to get him through those patches. Even when his father had criticized his work after just two weeks of taking over the top coveted spot in the company. Still, Felicity sort of felt awful for him sometimes because he was really doing a good job, but no one reminded him of that. Moira was equally as critical as Robert, except it was more targeted at Felicity's existence. She didn't approve of Oliver's friendship with the tech girl.

No, she would rather Oliver spend the good part of his evenings with Laurel Lance, who he was known to date on-and-off. But Felicity didn't read the tabloids. No, she stopped doing that for Oliver's sake, also because sometimes the stories were so poorly written, she wondered how any of them even got a degree in journalism. Moira thought Felicity was distracting. Of course she was. She was teaching her son life skills and how to use a freaking computer other than changing his status on Facebook.

The blonde turned her head when she heard her name.

"Felicity? I've been looking all over for you..." Oliver said, with a kind smile. Seems like he was more embarrassed than angry. Or maybe he was sad. He looked like a kicked puppy, and Felicity had to use all of what was inside of her not to kiss the man.

"Well, hey, married Oliver... Guess I should start calling you Mister Queen now... ha, ha..." she said, he joke trailing off and she winced, but Oliver smiled a little more. Oh god, he still thought she was funny? Okay, she officially hated him now. No, wait, she didn't hate him, she just hated that he was so in tune with her that he thought she was amusing. Whatever that meant.

Oliver was staring at her now but Felicity shook her head.

"So um, congrats," she said, pulling a card out of her purse before he could speak. "I realized I never actually got you anything, so I have this for you," she smiled a little, avoiding his eyes as she handed him the card. "My flight leaves tonight, so I'll be out of your hair by then... until work... which I realize now majority rules on my future with the company," she said. It would be a loss. She loved working there, but she had other resources elsewhere...

It was best not to fight the tiger lady and little miss sunshine out of their top spots. Oliver could find someone just as competent to take on her duties and she'd be less of a distraction. Something in her choked up; Moira was right. She was a distraction. But at what cost? Felicity's job, Oliver's personal life... not to mention the company's reputation.

Oliver was still staring at her.

"What?"

"I know things are just... not exactly what we expected them to be. But I still hope this doesn't wreck us."

"Us? We were never an _us_ , Oliver... We just came to be and went away. We never got further than that. But here we are and you're married. Things have already changed." She stepped up and placed her hand gently on his cheek. "You know how I feel," she said, pecking his cheek.

She poured herself another glass, and pulled one for Oliver, who looked tired and relieved at the same time. "I told the bartended who I was and he gave me the whole bottle," she shrugged, sitting back down.

"I can't find Laurel anywhere. Quentin is pissed at me, Sara looks like she wants to murder me in my sleep but at the same time she told me that maybe both of us just weren't ready?" he furrowed his brow in thought and Felicity nodded silently.

"I guess today went nobody's way..."

"I think you should go talk to her. That's what marriage is all about, right? Working things through."

"But what about you?" Oliver looked at her right in the eyes.

Felicity returned his gaze, but gave him a small smile. "What about me? I'll be fine. I always am."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing! Please let me know if there's anything you want to see or any characters you want to make an appearance. Don't worry, things are going to get better. I think I have one more chapter of Oliver's wedding planned before jumping back to present time. Also, this is my first actual Olicity fic I am sticking with so patience is much appreciated :) R&R! xo


	4. Chapter 4

Oliver sat with his sister, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. So the story probably had already made its way around the airwaves, the TV, the magazines. He could already feel the headache. His mother was trying to some damage control and he sat back in the chair as the waiter brought them their food.

"So… are you going to talk to her?" Thea asked him.

"Talk to who?"

"You know who."

"Voldemort?"

"You're an idiot," Thea narrowed her eyes at him.

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

"Of course she doesn't, she you said her name at your wedding to someone else and–"

"Hold on, who were you talking about?"

"What? Who were _you_ talking about?"

"Oh."

"Really, Ollie? After the fiasco that even led to this mess, do you think it wouldn't have happened if you listened and didn't invite her?"

"I didn't want to make–"

"But you two are friends, you share those weird things that work in the most awkward of ways, but guess what? It works."

Oliver sighed. She was right. He needed to get his act together and clear things up with Felicity. He had gotten angry at Laurel for saying he couldn't invite Felicity; Felicity was the one who had helped set him up preparing for the big event anyway. It was Felicity who stayed up with him during those late nights when he had too much to finish and she kept him company and kept him sane while he was almost going to lose his mind over the list of demands that Laurel and his mother had listed out for him, or as Felicity had put it, 'a woman's deadly touch'. At first he didn't quite grasp what she was saying, but even if she was being sarcastic, she had a point, because Felicity had that quality too.

He cleared his throat and his sister looked up at him as she scooped up her pulled pork. "Yes?"

"What about the other mess I created?"

"The one where you said the wrong woman's name and now said woman is plotting your untimely demise?"

Oliver gulped. "Yeah…"

"Well, considering she's probably putting your name on _her_ list, and not speaking to you, consider yourself lucky." Thea sat back, folding her arms over her chest. "Just take it at that, Ollie," she shook her head. "You still have that honeymoon coming up, right? Australia?"

Oliver just nodded. He didn't really want to go anymore, it was a giant mess, and again, maybe it just meant this whole time something else was supposed to happen. That he was supposed to be with Felicity and if he had just admitted it to her that one night, they both wouldn't be in this mess.

He picked at his food. "Felicity left after the reception," he finally admitted.

" _WHAT?!_ " Thea asked a little too loudly, causing some people to turn to look at them.

Oliver shrugged. "We talked at the reception and she told me to figure it out and that she would, too," he sighed.

"Why are you only telling me this now? Why didn't you tell me? What the hell, Oliver?" Thea asked, glaring at him.

"I don't know, okay? I think I was still too in shock that it actually happened." He looked down at his phone, seeing that it was Barry. He sighed a bit. "It's Barry," he shot his sister an apologetic look and answered his phone as he got up to move to the outside hall to talk to his friend.

"How are you holding up?" Barry asked.

"Not well, honestly. You were there. You saw the look on Laurel's face."

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"You mean fix my marriage?"

"Okay… no… I was thinking more like being honest with yourself. But you're Oliver Queen and you're the most stubborn person on the planet. Next to Felicity, of course."

Oliver laughed loudly. He was right. Dammit. Why did it feel like everyone knew him better than he knew himself? Especially Felicity. Everything always drew him back to thoughts of Felicity. If he actually admitted what he was thinking then maybe he'd be marrying Felicity instead. He cleared his throat. "Can you meet me in fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah sure–Oliver?"

Oliver went back to the table where Thea was sitting. "I'm going to have to take a rain check on this one, Speedy. I'll see you back in Starling," he said, slipping her a $50 bill and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He hurried out to the hotel, where he was meeting Barry. He hoped his plan would work.

The young billionaire waved to his friend, who gave him a curious look. "Oliver Queen has a plan?" he asked after Oliver had quickly rambled on about how he was going to win Felicity back. "And I thought Felicity was the only one who babbled," Barry chuckled. "I talked to her shortly before she left," he shrugged. "She's going to figure some stuff out."

Oliver nodded as Barry followed him up to the penthouse suite. He stopped in his tracks, causing Barry to walk right into him.

"Ow!"

Laurel was there with her father and his parents. Oliver gulped and Barry side-stepped away. "No, no, Mr. Allen, you can stay," Quentin Lance spoke directly to Barry who froze in his spot.

Looking between everyone, he sighed and cleared his throat. "So, um, are we having a family meeting?" he started awkwardly.

"We're going to make you a deal Oliver," Moira Queen spoke up. "That way we can do damage control as soon as possible and so that we can fix this mess you made."

"You'd better listen, Ollie," Laurel spoke up. Her words were like ice and her glare made him want to disappear. He wished he had listened to everyone else in the first place and not his mother. "We're going to stay married under one condition," the lawyer nodded, looking over at Moira, who watched her son carefully.

"You are going to stay married but I want all ties to Felicity cut off."

Oliver stood, dumbstruck and speechless.

"Oliver! Where are you going?" Laurel called after him.

But Oliver was already halfway out the door when he mumbled something he made sure his mother and Laurel could hear.

"No deal."


	5. Chapter 5

TWO IMPORTANT THINGS: I know I said that we were going into present time... I had to just throw in one more part, but the good thing is that I can write this in two chapters! So just be patient because I actually forgot what I had planned. And two, there is smut in this chapter. Enjoy~

*Back in Starling City, after the wedding*

Oliver knocked on Felicity's door. If this was the plan, then it was something between risk and him just making a stupid decision like this. The door opened, and presented Felicity, hair messy, sans makeup, in a pair of unicorn slippers dressed in avocado pajamas. She looked up at her boss with wide eyes. She was lucky, Oliver had let her take a few days off after everything happened. She would just have to deal with the questions later.

"Oh my god!"

"Sorry... I tend to have that affect on people."

"No kidding... I mean... hi... hi, Oliver... you're here and not in Italy with Laurel..."

Oliver frowned slightly. His hand still had the weight of the ring on it, even though he didn't wear it. It would just feel wrong, in terms of what he wanted, the only issue was, it might not be what Felicity wanted.

She studied his face, and stepped aside to let him into her house, adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose. Her tilted her head to the side, waiting for him to speak up.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"You're supposed to be gone for two weeks, enjoying the sunshine and you're here... there must be something more than 'talk' going on in that stubborn head of yours," she raised an eyebrow.

"About what happened..."

"No, Oliver, we're not going to go there, because if we do, we're going to start saying crazy things again. I'm not going to be that girl who just melts when you talk to her," she stated, even though she knew in fact, that is what she was doing right now. "It. Happened. You probably heard this a million times over again, but-" she bit her lip. She wasn't mad at him for what happened, in fact, she wished she knew what it meant, but she also wished that Oliver hadn't forgotten his vows and she wouldn't have had to hear it in person.

In fact, he did forget his vows, technically. Forgetting the right person's name sounded like something one would find in a 90s sitcom.

"Felicity, I..."

Felicity shook her head.

Oliver watched her. She knew what he was going to say. Was it too soon to tell her he loved her? Or was he just pouring more salt in the wound. He felt her small, soft hand on his bigger, callused one. "Maybe if things were different..."

"Oliver..." she pulled him in her direction so they were now standing directly face to face, right outside her kitchen. "We've said 'maybe' a dozen times now... stop dangling maybes..." she whispered.

He leaned in and kissed her, to which Felicity reacted almost instantly. The thing she had said about not melting at Oliver's words? She nearly kept her promise. But she never said anything about his kisses.

Oliver looked over at Felicity. It wasn't the first time they had found themselves in this position. Everything just kind of meshed together all at once.

 _It didn't take too long for them to realize that this would be a spur of the moment reaction. That maybe they were going too fast and feelings were just heightened because they were confused but Felicity didn't pull away when Oliver kept kissing her. It was a slow burn, confusing at best, but the next thing she knew, clothes were scattered everywhere, she forgot about the fact that she freaked out only moments ago because it was the first time Oliver had seen her with no makeup on. He had seen her with no clothes on, but right now, she didn't care._

 _She didn't care that they had just talked about his failed wedding, or that she was confused and that having sex with Oliver would make her even more confused. And Oliver was just as deep in trouble as she was. But she couldn't hold it against him. Not right now._

 _Her nails ran down his chest, abs looking fine as ever, earning a deep sound of affection from him._

 _"_ _Oliver..." a soft moan came from Felicity's mouth as she melted again into his touch. Giving in was sweet surrender, and the kind she could live with. She didn't really care too much at this point. He was giving her the things that she could only dream of. And at the same time, she still felt his caring side._

 _Oliver let out a gruff sound under his breath, the way that Felicity reacted to him was delicious, addicting and something he never knew he needed. He knew that Felicity knew that he had his fair share of experiences, but with her it felt brand new again. And far better._

 _Bodies kept moving in time together, closing the space between them. And until neither one of them could keep voices down any longer. She looked up at him and he returned her smile with his own goofy one, before kissing her lips again, bodies still shaking from the high of the moment._

When Felicity opened her eyes and caught her breath, finally, she looked back at him, noticing the way that he was still looking at her.


	6. Chapter 6

*PRESENT DAY*

"Oliver, I think it's important for you to know that we think it's best for us to part ways with Felicity." Walter Steele spoke up. Moira was at his side, nodding her head.

Oliver wasn't listening. He didn't want to hear it. They knew that without Felicity, their operations would crumble. And that without Felicity, he wouldn't be able to get through the days.

Working for Queen Consolidated was everything and nothing that he needed. It was a steady job, but that came with a million tons of stress. He had Felicity, but after they had somehow stopped speaking for a little bit after she left on a trip to go home (he lost track of when that had happened), he felt awful again for letting her down.

Felicity was back in her office. She saw this day coming and she knew what it would mean having to part ways with Oliver and the company, neither one of them she wanted to do. But if it would be best for his image. She was well aware of him not being in love with Laurel (she wasn't even sure when the actual marriage had ended, she avoided those tabloids at all costs). And she was well aware of herself being in love with him. She just wouldn't admit the latter to him. Ever. Even though she knew that he knew how she felt about him.

Oliver glanced over at his sister, who had tried to say something to save Felicity's job. Thea had grown fond of the girl, and she knew the truth that Oliver knew as well. Nothing would be the same without Felicity there.

She had saved his ass more than once, and admittedly, he probably deserved to be yelled at instead. But Felicity was always kind and caring, understanding that he wasn't good at this. She always encouraged him, and she believed in him. Even if he believed that he didn't deserve any of this, that he had messed up, she saw the good in him that he couldn't find. A light in the darkness.

The first time he had kissed her, he told her that.

 _The were in the park near the water, eating ice cream cones because Felicity had insisted. They were on the park bench, enjoying the scenery. The water was still and there were happy voices in the background. Felicity had a scoop of mint chip, and Oliver went for some coffee flavored concoction._

 _Felicity had laughed because now he was the one who had more coffee than she did that day. She quickly blushed at her own dumb joke and Oliver only grinned at her._

 _It didn't take too long for them to chat about random things and Oliver was already staring at her. Felicity became well aware of this and playfully called him out on it._

 _"Do I have something on my face?"  
_

 _"Actually, yes..." he chuckled, using his thumb to swipe off some ice cream on the corner of her lips, causing Felicity to once again blush furiously.  
_

 _"You know, you're always so much fun to be around,"  
_

 _"Fun?" she asked. "I wouldn't say I'm fun. I ramble on and on... and on and I need to learn to shut up... starting now..."  
_

 _Oliver kept smiling. "I rest my case," he grinned brighter. "Sometimes... we all need a little light shining in," he said. Felicity couldn't help but smile at that. It was corny, but for some reason, she just reeled it in. "You have a little something more there," he said softly when their eyes met._

 _"Yeah?"  
_

 _"Yeah," she leaned in when he did and even hours later, Felicity's lips were still tingling with delight because Oliver Freakin' Queen kissed her (her mother's words, not hers).  
_

After the meeting, Oliver was silent as he walked back with Thea. She knew that her big brother was fighting tears and that he was angry. Barry had told her about what happened in the penthouse suite, how Moira and Quentin wanted them to keep this quiet (when were things ever quiet around here?) and how Oliver had walked out.

They stood by his office and Felicity walked into the hall just in time. What started off as a friendship and an almost-romance turned into something messy. It was a wild ride. Felicity didn't regret it, nor did Oliver. She only smiled at him and spoke very softly.

"I know," she said, and he realized she had figured out what the meeting was about, because of course she did. She was bright, brilliant, beautiful, sweet and kind. She was sassy, witty, funny without even trying. Oliver turned to her when things between him and Laurel were messy, and told her all about it.

"You don't have to go... I don't want you to go..." Oliver said as she walked past him.

"I don't have to tell you how much I care about you, Oliver. You know how I feel. And because of that, I can't let you fall this time." Once again, things were so confusing.

Oliver sighed quietly. He had to figure out what to do, since Felicity was already on the brink of leaving the company, and leaving him. He knew she would be brilliant anywhere she was, but he couldn't imagine himself without her in his life. Felicity knew that things were going to be hard, not seeing Oliver almost every day. Not seeing him smile or give her a look of concern when he thought she was talking too fast and that she had one too many cups of coffee that day. Or sneaking those fond kisses on his cheek.

It was a beautiful disaster.


End file.
